In stop motion what is better, polymer clay or plasticine?

Question

I will probably need to dress the characters with fabrics and put a wire skeleton inside as well.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Plasticine would be best if you use a good quality one (good ones are especially made NOT to droop easily under the hot lights often associated with stop motion).



Polymer clays come in various brands and lines which run the gamut from very soft to fairly firm (all can be "leached" to make them a bit firmer), so if you didn't need to use hot lights and weren't in a warm environment, some of the lines could work:

...Kato Polyclay (at Hobby Lobby or online) or FimoClassic

...next in firmness would be Premo, Cernit, and maybe Studio by Sculpey

...then FimoSoft

...and finally SuperSculpey and Sculpey III, with original Sculpey last.

Remember too that the softer polymer clays will also get fingerprints more easily, especially when they're warm.



The brand of plasticine that most animators use is probably the excellent Plastalina by Van Aken.

http://www.vanaken.com/plastalina.html

Van Aken also makes a good plasticine that can be purchased locally at many craft stores called Clay Toons.

http://www.vanaken.com/claytoon.html

(The other plasticines are less good in general, like RoseArt and the others intended only for little kids and which often come in packages of 4 colors rather than being sold by the individual color).



Plasticines are also technically called "modeling clays" but that term is often used loosely to mean any "clay" that can be "modeled" so confusing.



There is a problem though when you mention dressing them with "fabrics."

Both polymer clays and plasticine clays are oil-based so most fabrics would absorb some of the oil from them over time and get darkened ares. (Polymer clays can be hardened though, and then there's no oil for the fabric to absorb but also then not as useful for stop motion.)

You can make the clothing from clay too though:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpting_body_and_tools.htm (click on the category called *Clothing*).

Or you could seal the fabrics with white glues or liquid polymer clay (then bake those) or with something else, or you could use fabrics that aren't absorbent alone, or line other fabrics with those.



And here is some info on stop motion photography which will probably discuss types of clay, lighting techniques, etc:

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+stop+motion+animation

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+stop+motion+animation+clothing+clay



HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

Plasticine was formulated by art teacher William Harbutt of Bathampton, near Bath, England in 1897. He wanted a non-drying clay for use by his sculpture students. Although the exact composition is a secret, Plasticine is composed of calcium salts (principally calcium carbonate, i.e. chalk), petroleum jelly, and long-chain aliphatic acids (principally stearic acid). It is non-toxic, sterile, soft, malleable, and does not dry on exposure to air (unlike superficially similar products such as Play-Doh, which is based on flour, salt and water). It cannot be hardened by firing; it melts when exposed to heat, and is flammable at much higher temperatures.[citation needed] A patent was awarded in 1899, and in 1900 commercial production started at a factory in Bathampton. The original Plasticine was grey, but the product initially sold to the public came in four colours. It was soon available in a wide variety of bright colours. Plasticine was popular with children, widely used in schools for teaching art, and found a wide variety of other uses (moulding for plaster casts, for example). The Harbutt company promoted Plasticine as a children's toy by producing modelling kits in association with companies responsible for popular children's characters such as Noddy, the Mr Men and Paddington Bear. The original Plasticine factory was destroyed by fire in 1963 and replaced by a modern building. The Harbutt company continued to produce Plasticine in Bathampton until 1983. It is still manufactured today, but in smaller quantities, and is marketed once more as an art material While "polymer" in popular usage suggests "plastic", the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties and purposes. Natural polymer materials such as shellac and amber have been in use for centuries. Biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids play crucial roles in biological processes. A variety of other natural polymers exist, such as cellulose, which is the main constituent of wood and paper. Some common synthetic polymers are Bakelite, neoprene, nylon, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile and PVB (polyvinyl butyral). Polymers are studied in the fields of polymer chemistry, polymer physics, and polymer science.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

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Answer 5

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